Batman FFDCU Origins Part 1
by theamerican91
Summary: First in a trilogy on Batman's early years in the FFDCU.  Batman spends his first year attempting to take down mobster Rupert Thorne and henchman Jack Napier while forming alliances with a few good people in a corrupt city.
1. Chapter 1: The Deal

**First story in a trilogy that deals with Batman's first years in the FFDCU. I do not own the character Batman or any other characters or storylines owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

Four men stood outside the warehouse. Being that it was still winter, there was a bitter chill blowing through. Three of them were huddling against the warehouse for warmth. The fourth one however did not seem bothered by the cold and was sitting on a table playing solitaire.

"Jack," whispered one of the men to the fourth man. "What's taking them so long?"

Jack stopped playing with his cards.

"Traffic? Who knows? You got a hot date or something?"

"No it's just I don't like sitting here for awhile. I feel like we are sitting ducks!"

Jack let out a chuckle.

"Steve, come on! Thorne runs this city! And who is Thorne's right hand man?"

Steve gulped. The laugh Jack gave unnerved him. It was high pitch.

"You…"

"Exactly! As long as I am with you, no one can touch us!"

At that moment the sound of heavy trucks was heard.

"Here they come!" Jack said and shuffled all his cards into one deck before putting it into his pocket. The deck was brand new.

Three delivery trucks pulled up. Out stepped ten men armed with rifles. They all looked at the four men outside the warehouse with contempt. One more man stepped out of the last truck. He was Hispanic and had his hair tied in a ponytail and wore dark shades. He had tattoos on his hands.

"Welcome Mr. Sanchez!" Jack greeted ignoring the intimidating aura Sanchez's men were setting.

Mr. Sanchez was not as enthusiastic. He looked at the warehouse with disgust.

"I thought Mister Thorne would have chosen a more hospitable location…" Mr. Sanchez said in a thick Mexican accent.

Jack was not perturbed by the slight.

"Sorry that was my choice! You see I prefer to do business in more quiet areas."

Mr. Sanchez looked at his guards and nodded. They lowered their rifles but still had them ready to load.

"Well, let us hurry then, Mr. Napier! I don't have all night!"

Steve opened the door to the warehouse and soon everyone was inside.

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On a gargoyle by the old Gotham church, hidden in the shadows stood a man. Or if you would call him a man. The man jumped off the gargoyle and landed on a lower building next to it without making a sound. He moved in the shadows. He moved with a purpose.

Pulling out something by his waist, he shot it into the sky and swung to the next building.

The man was in a hurry. There was a big deal going down tonight and he wanted to be there. The problem was he had narrowed it down to three locations. He already staked out two locations. That left a warehouse in the eastern district.

He stopped to check a strange belt on his waist. It was armed, ready to go. Time to act soon.

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Jack sat at a table surrounded by his three guards while Mr. Sanchez sat on the opposite end surrounded by his ten guards. Mr. Sanchez looked smug and confident. He had the upper hand here. What was disturbing him though was how Mr. Napier seemed to be grinning like an idiot.

"What's so funny?" Mr. Sanchez threatened.

"I'll tell you later!" Jack said. He then proceeded to examine a bag that was taken out of one of the trucks.

Taking a lick of a white substance from the bag, Jack grinned.

"Heroin. You really do deliver Mr. Sanchez."

Mr. Sanchez just continued to glare at him through his shades.

"Now let's talk business. Mr. Thorne has agreed to sell your drugs in Gotham with fifty percent of the profits…"

"Hold it!" Mr. Sanchez cried angrily getting to his feet. His ten guards all aimed their rifles at the four men in front of them.

"The deal on the phone was thirty percent!"

Jack did not seem intimidated by the threatening rifles pointing at him and just continued to smile.

"But Mr. Sanchez you were giving a special reward in exchange for settling for fifty percent…"

"And what's that?" Mr. Sanchez asked pulling out a pistol aiming between Jack's eyes.

At that moment the sound of many weapons clicking caused Mr. Sanchez and his men to look around. About twenty men were surrounding Mr. Sanchez and his men. All rifles pointed ready to kill.

Due to Mr. Sanchez and his men pointing all their guns at Jack and his three guards at the time, there was no way they could return fire without being slaughtered. Defeated Mr. Sanchez slowly lowered his pistol while reluctantly ordering his men to do the same.

Jack stood up, grinning smugly at how quick the tables had turn.

"Now the special reward is…you get to live!"

And before anyone could react Jack pulled out two pistols and began to shoot each one of Mr. Sanchez's unarmed men while laughing wickedly. Mr. Sanchez cringed and his eyes widened in fear.

"You're crazy!" he shouted.

Jack ignored the verbal insult and proceeded to pull out the deck of cards he had earlier. He walked to the recently slain bodies and proceeded to drop a card on each one.

"I hope you don't mind, but I got to keep my nickname 'Black Jack' going on."

Jack then motioned to some of his men still pointing guns at Mr. Sanchez.

"Start unloading the trucks."

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The man heard gunshot in the distance causing him to freeze. Was he too late?

He immediately hurried across the rooftops and was on the roof across a warehouse. Three delivery trucks were outside. About ten men were opening them up.

Immediately the man deduced what happened. It was a drug deal gone bad. It looked like the buyers double crossed the sellers. Time to act.

The man dived toward the trucks.

00000

Mr. Sanchez was glaring Jack with the utmost venom as Jack proceeded to reload his pistol.

"You see Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Thorne is glad to do business with anyone. But when you try to do it here, you are on his home turf. Gotham is Mr. Thorne's land. He is the judge and jury here. He decides what is fair and not."

"And what does that make you crazy man?" Mr. Sanchez asked while spitting on the table.

Jack paused to think.

"I guess that makes me the sheriff. I patrol the city and make sure it's safe from scum like you."

"Well you got that wrong," growled a harsh voice in the distance.

Alarmed Jack and his men immediately jumped up, pointing their weapons in all direction to find the source of the disembodied voice.

But before anyone could find it, the sound of something whooshing through the air was heard and the lights went out.

When the lights went out many guns started going off in panic. Blindly shooting over the place. Jack also heard many of his men screaming in terror and the sound of someone beating them.

Jack shot blindly in the darkness at where he thought he heard the source of noise. But then he heard some movement above him to his left. Frustrated he kept shooting.

Realizing it was in his best interest to get out of here, Jack ran to the front door. If he could make it to the truck he would be safe.

Upon walking outside to his horror he discovered his men who were supposed to be delivering the drugs were all tied up and unconscious. The tires of the trucks were meanwhile slashed.

Jack thought he heard the slightest movement outside the warehouse door. Whoever it was, they were chasing him.

Jack ran and hid behind one of the trucks, trying to control his breathing.

Listening quietly, he heard the faint sound of someone walking. Jack smiled and noticed the streetlight was casting a shadow to his right. Getting his gun ready, he emerged from the right side of the truck and began to unload at his pursuer.

It was only after five shots did he realize there was no one there.

Before he could react, he felt something wrap itself around his ankle and before he knew it, he was flying upward in the air, upside down and screaming.

When he finally stopped moving, Jack found himself staring into two white soulless eyes. It was a man who was dressed in black. He wore a mask that had horns on his head like the devil. Jack had not really been this scared before. Something about this man gave off an aura of evil. This man seemed inhuman.

"Don't kill me!" Jack begged. He had forgone his pride at the moment. He was not ready to die yet.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I need you alive," the man in black whispered hoarsely. "I want you to be able to talk."

"What?" Jack asked confused.

"Tell all your friends that the city does not belong to them anymore. Tell Thorne he better watch his back. Tell them all that someone in Gotham is going to prey on them now."

"And who are you, crazy man?" Jack asked with fear.

The man grabbed Jack, who was still hanging upside down by the neck and brought him close.

"I'm Batman!" he whispered before letting Jack go.

Jack screamed as he fell toward the pavement, his speed picking up faster. He put his hands in front of his face in a pitiful attempt to protect himself from the inevitable impact.

But at the last moment he stopped moving. Jack realized the rope was still around his ankle and he was hanging upside down. His heart was still racing.


	2. Chapter 2: Morning News

Detective Jim Gordon exited the police car. He was a tall man in his early forties, his red hair slowly starting to turn grey. He wore glasses and had a bushy moustache.

But looks can be deceiving.

Underneath the baggy trench coat was man with twenty years of experience as a cop. A man who wasn't only known for his integrity but his surprising skills in both shooting and hand to hand combat.

Yet despite his talent as a cop, he was sent to the one place where it was horrible to be a straight arrow; Gotham City.

Due to an incident with a high profile murder suspect being let off a case, the blame was pinned on Gordon. There was such an outcry for him to be fired for messing up the investigation and others were even suggesting he planted the evidence.

That angered Gordon. He did search the suspect's premise without a warrant but the suspect had kidnapped a child. It was a do or die situation and he needed to make the call. He understood he needed to be punished later. There was a reason why the U.S. needed a Bill of Rights. A temporary suspension would be fine with him.

But due to the suspect hiring some hotshot lawyer from some activist group, they went out for blood. Not only did the activist group demand the suspect's case be thrown out, but they wanted restitution from the city as well.

The Commissioner had no choice but to let Gordon go. He was bringing too much bad publicity. Gordon didn't know what to do. After twenty years of being a cop, he didn't know if he could get another job.

Fate however gave him an opportunity, or curse, depending on what you saw it.

Gordon was offered to join the GCPD. Due to the city's reputation they didn't really care what was on his record.

In need to provide for his family, Gordon took the offer. But if he had known what Gotham was really like, he wasn't sure if he would have accepted it.

What they said about Gotham was wrong. The city wasn't full of corruption, the city was corruption itself.

He had no idea that corruption went up to even the office of the commissioner. But what choice did he have? He needed the job.

So with great reluctance, Gordon had joined the GCPD. He hoped would be that he would be able to stand out more if he kept his integrity and stay a good cop in a city full of bent cops and soon another city would notice him and accept his request to transfer. But until the time being, Gordon was stuck in Gotham, virtually locked in a one man war against crime.

Already he was establishing a good reputation among the general populace. The public loved him how he had been able to foil a bank robbery without firing a shot last month.

But his fellow cops weren't too pleased. They hadn't said anything yet but Gordon could tell they, especially his partner Flass, were soon going to talk to him on how he wasn't playing the game.

Deciding he had bigger things to worry about, he got out of the car and headed to a police officer named Billy, one of the few cops Gordon could trust.

"What do we got here?" Gordon asked looking at the crime scene behind Billy. They were outside one of Thorne's properties.

"You're going to like this Gordon," Billy commented. "We got your man."

"What?" Gordon asked confused.

"Black Jack. We caught him red handed at the scene."

Curiously Gordon walked over the police caution tape to see for himself.

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Gordon examined the scene before him. In his entire career as a cop, he had seen plenty of drug deals gone wrong, especially in Gotham.

But in all his life, he had never seen one ended like this.

Mr. Sanchez, a notorious drug runner from Mexico had all his men killed. One single shot to the chest. Each body had a playing card over it. That was nothing new. Gordon had seen much of Napier's work before.

But it wasn't the dead bodies or violence that stood out to Gordon. Someone or something had managed to subdue Napier and his twenty something guys without firing a single shot. Every single one of Napier's goons along with Napier and Sanchez were alive. None of the crooks were injured by any bullet wounds. Except for a couple of bruises and occasional broken arms, most of the men were relatively unharmed.

At least physically…

Something had happened that had spooked all of them. None of them were talking and kept looking around, paranoid that something was going to jump out from the shadows or around the corner any second.

But the greatest sight was Jack Napier himself, caught at the scene of the crime, dangling upside down by a cable around his ankle and whimpering. He was currently being cut down. Napier was on the verge of passing out from all the blood rushing to his head.

After much difficulty, the police managed to cut the rope and lower Napier to the ground.

Gordon went up to him, not bothering to wait until Napier had time to recover.

"What happened?" Gordon demanded.

Even though Napier looked like he was on the verge of passing out, he still showed some level of alertness.

"Bite me!" Napier responded.

Gordon sighed and picked up Napier by the collar closer so he could whisper.

"You screwed up this time Jack. Do you think Thorne's going to protect you now? You might as well come clean," he whispered in a borderline threatening tone. But it was true though. Thorne was notorious for punishing those who failed him. But then again, Jack Napier was one of his best men…

Jack just grinned.

"Thorne owns this warehouse but he hasn't used it much. He just asked me to check it out tonight. I'm just a victim of circumstance here. I come in and see all this shooting; I tried to hide and call the police. I'm lucky I'm alive."

Gordon sighed. It was worth a shot, but Napier was a professional. He knew they still didn't have a strong case. There were no cameras and Gordon doubt that any of the men they were arresting would speak out against Napier. Testifying against Jack Napier was the equivalent of testifying against Rupert Thorne these days. But Gordon still had one more question.

"If you're just a bystander, who tied you up like that? Who subdued the rest of these men?"

Napier stopped grinning and frowned slightly.

"I want my lawyer," he whispered to Gordon.

"Why? You scared your reputation is going to be damaged if word got out that some lonely punk had beaten you?"

Gordon got an answer not from the suspect he was interrogating but one of the crooks that the police were escorting out of the warehouse.

"It was a giant Bat! I'm telling you!" the crook explained, earning a laugh from Detective Flass.

"Yea don't worry buddy. We called the exterminator," Flass said with a stupid grin on his face.

"He's not joking. It wasn't human! We shot at it and it just went through the bullets!" another criminal explained, forgetting he could be self-incriminating himself.

Gordon raised an eyebrow and looked at Napier curiously.

"A bat? What's a matter Jack? Scared of a little flying rat?"

Jack glared at Gordon. "Lawyer," he whispered threateningly.

Gordon handed him over to another cop with disgust. No good getting an answer out of him.

He entered the warehouse to see if he could pick up any clues. As usual though nothing promising. There seemed to be no explanation as to why twenty criminals were taken out in one stroke.

And what was with this Bat business? A joke? A hallucination?

Gordon was about to pass it off as unimportant, but something caught his eye on the ground. The floor being a warehouse officially for construction equipment was already filthy. Thorne never had to worry about health and safety standards in his places since he owned his own inspectors. But something shiny was standing out on the filthy floor, half buried under discarded tools from a knocked over crate. It was something one wouldn't expect to find at a storage place.

Gordon kneeled down and began to move the tools out of the way to see what the shiny object was. Gordon soon found himself staring at an odd shaped device. He reached out to pick it up.

Upon further examination, Gordon realized it was some type of tough black metal but light. It looked like a throwing projectile that someone could use as a weapon. The device was able to fold along the center which allowed it to decrease its surface area, but when left expanded, it took an odd shape.

The shape of a bat.

Looking around, Gordon quietly pocketed it. If that went to the lab, Commissioner Loeb would be sure to bury it deep. He would have to examine it later. Gordon hated how he had to operate outside the law, partly because it got him in trouble last time, but in a city like Gotham, one had to make choices.

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Gordon was in the driver seat as his partner Flass drove. While the other cops cleaned up the rest of the crime scene they were just at, Flass and Gordon had resumed their routine patrol. It was a pretty quiet drive; a contrast to the growing tension between the two cops. Flass and Gordon were not on best terms.

"So what do you make of this Bat business?" Flass asked Gordon, finally breaking the silence after he began to nibble on some food from one of Sal Maroni's restaurants he had stopped at earlier on the shift.

Flass may have claimed he went their just for the food but Gordon knew better. Flass like majority of the police were on the take from someone. In Flass's case, his benefactor was one of the Italian mobsters, Sal Maroni.

Gordon ignored Flass's remark and continued to stare out the window.

"It's crazy, huh. What these criminals come up with?" Flass interjected, still trying to start a conversation.

Gordon felt a surge of anger. Flass talked like he was above those criminals, but Gordon knew better. Hell, Gordon was sure that Flass was aware that Gordon knew about his side activities. Flass may be crooked, but the least he could do was to not patronize Gordon and pretend he was a straight arrow.

Flass noticed the suppressed anger on Gordon's face. He gave out a large sigh.

"I'm not going to lie Jimbo, you make all us cops nervous," Flass muttered angrily.

That caused Gordon to finally turn around and cock an eyebrow questioningly.

"We worry about you buddy," Flass said in a voice of concern. Gordon knew it was really a fake sympathy. Flass never cared about anyone but himself.

"We're upset that you don't seem to be acclimating to Gotham at all. After being here for awhile, we would think you should know how things work around here by now," Flass said putting a subtle emphasis on the last part of the sentence.

"I think I've been doing fine," Gordon retorted. "My arrest record shows that."

Flass tensed a little as he drove.

"That's good and all, but you've been here for six months and yet none of the guys are sure which team you're on."

"Team?" Gordon asked. He knew what Flass was hinting at but decided to humor him a little.

"Look, all I'm saying is we other cops feel a little unsure about you Jim. We don't want that. You shouldn't want that either."

Flass then suddenly lowered his tone to a whisper and slowed down his driving so Jim could hear him.

"We don't want you to get hurt Jimmy," Flass said a little darkly while using the hand not on the steering wheel to pat the gun on his waist.

Gordon knew without a doubt Flass was threatening him. Trying to intimidate him to join the system of corruption that Flass and the others were a part of.

"It especially would be bad if something happened to not only you Jim, but your wife and kids as well," Flass said calmly.

Gordon glared at Flass. No one brought his family up.

"Keep my family out of this!" he warned his partner while keeping his posture stiff with defiance.

Flass gave a smug look of satisfaction that he got a reaction out of Gordon.

"I'm just saying. You know it doesn't hurt to have a few friends on the force to watch each other's backs and keep each other safe, if you get my drift."

Gordon gave one more glare and resumed to look out the window again. Flass was done talking and continued to drive in silence.

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Rachel Dawes, one of the assistant DAs of Gotham City sighed as she made her way along the streets to the courthouse early in the morning.

She had short black hair that framed her attractive face and a slight athletic build. Unlike many women with her looks, she felt no qualms about walking the streets of a city that was rated number two in crime, just behind its sister city, Bludhaven, by herself.

She was actually pretty competent in self defense and could handle a few creeps on her own. Besides she knew how criminals really work. They relied on fear and if you showed no fear, most wouldn't bother to attack. Criminals usually only preyed on those they can intimidate and scare.

Her job as ADA was to intimidate and scare criminals from breaking the law.

Of course it wasn't an easy job being that she was working in a city where half the local authorities were in bed with some crook or mobster. But she still had to try. She couldn't stand by and let injustice occur.

Despite her passion, she was still not enthusiastic that she had to get up an hour earlier than usual but Harvey was insistent.

If what he called her for wasn't worth getting up an hour early, she was going to make Harvey pay for lunch for a week.

Harvey Dent was her partner and ally at work. They both shared the same strong sense of justice and willingness to go after the wicked, even if the odds weren't in their favor.

It didn't take long for the two to have realized they also shared some compatibly in other things as well. Before they knew it, they both had started dating.

They had been seeing each other for about a year, although it wasn't an easy relationship. Having to deal with criminals in a near broken city sometimes puts a strain on things. Nonetheless, the two could always count on each other to be there for one another.

Finally she reached her intended destination and entered the courthouse.

It didn't take her long to reach the office of DA Winters, her boss. When she got there, she found an eager Harvey looking over some files on Winters's desk.

"Oh I'm glad you're here!" Harvey said enthusiastically after he noticed she had arrived. He must have never gone home last night because his black hair was a mess and he was still wearing the same tie from yesterday.

"Please tell me this couldn't be done over the phone. I do sleep you know."

"Are you kidding? Gotham's the city that never sleeps. Especially when it comes to crime," Harvey joked, earning a smile from Rachel. She proceeded to hang up her coat.

She always loved the amount of energy Harvey displayed. He not only kept himself in great shape but never seemed to run out of enthusiasm. That was one of the qualities she loved the most about him; that he was always willing to defend what was right.

"What is it then?" she said walking over to Harvey while putting on a face of mock excitement.

Harvey just grinned like a little kid ready to drop some big news to his friends.

"We got Napier!" he shouted happily.

"What?"

"You know, Jack Napier? Black Jack? Thorne's number one man? The one suspected of killing McCoy?"

"I know who he is. How?"

"I don't know the details yet, but basically a drug deal went bad. He and twenty of Thorne's men were rounded up. It was so huge, not even Thorne's cops could cover it up."

"Great! What evidence do we have?" Rachel said excitedly. At last maybe they could finally put the man who was responsible for the death of the former DA, Jack McCoy behind bars. He was a mentor to Rachel and Harvey and she had vowed she would make the suspects behind his death see justice.

Harvey's face dropped.

"Well all we have was he was at the scene at the time…"

"Wait, no fingerprints?"

Harvey sighed and shook his head.

"No DNA?" Rachel asked, her shoulders slouching in disappointment. Harvey seemed to have jumped the gun a little early.

Harvey shook his head again. "But don't worry. Twenty of Thorne's men were arrested as well. One of them is sure to turn on Jack!"

Rachel sighed and sat down in a free chair. She didn't share his optimism. They had been at this game before. Just when they thought they made a breakthrough, they would be disappointed.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll get him this time," Harvey said moving around the desk and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Before Rachel could respond, the current DA herself entered the office a little angrily. Ms. Winters was a short frumpy woman with short curly brown hair. She was about fifty years old. Unlike her two subordinates that were in her office, her eyes showed no enthusiasm but weariness in age.

If there was anyone that Rachel would see as a terrible person to be the DA in Gotham, it was Winters. She had no enthusiasm like her predecessor who was ironically way older than her when he was DA. Rachel really wished Harvey had tried to run for the job but he had refused. He claimed he wasn't into politics but justice.

Winters looked at the two young ADAs slightly annoyed they were in her office before her.

"Ms. Winters…"

"If you're looking over the Napier case, put that away! We got more important things to worry about," barked the middle age women.

"But we have a chance to put one of Gotham's most dangerous criminal behind bars!" Rachel cried angrily.

"Alleged criminal," the DA corrected. "Besides it doesn't matter, he just posted bail…"

"He did what?" shouted Harvey in surprise. "He was found at the site of a multiple homicide crime and he's out on the streets again?"

"Thorne owns the warehouse, so Napier had a perfectly legal reason to go there. He was just inspecting it, according to his word. And none of the men who were apprehended at the scene said Napier was with them."

Rachel snorted, earning a glare from the DA.

"I can't believe you are backing down from this…"

"Don't question my judgment, Ms. Dawes! If you don't watch yourself I'll make sure you're in traffic court as long as I'm DA or worse, transferred to Bludhaven. Besides we got more important things to worry about instead of wasting our time on Mr. Napier."

"Like what?" Harvey replied sarcastically. What could be more important than imprisoning Jack Napier? He was the stepping stone to Thorne.

"Most of the men who had been found at the scene say one thing. They were attacked by some Bat-man."

"What?" Rachel asked getting to her feet. Had the DA stooped that low that she would rather investigate the ridiculous claims of criminals than have the courage to go after Napier and Thorne?

"Someone busted the drug deal, but didn't bother to take any of the money or drugs there. It sounds like some vigilante nut in a costume from the sound of it."

"So we got a citizen who stuck it to the scum," Harvey said shrugging his shoulders. "Who cares?"

The DA shot an angry look at Harvey's perceived insubordination.

"It's a slippery slope Dent! Before you know it everyone will began carrying guns and start taking the law into their own hands and Gotham will be a warzone."

"That seems a little presumptuous," Rachel countered. "For all we know this so-called 'masked avenger' may have just been from a rival gang. I say he's the least of our worries."

The DA scowled and finally took off her coat and hung it on the rack as she made her way to her desk to sit down, signaling she wasn't going to hear any more from them.

"Regardless, we cannot afford vigilantism to run wild in this city. My office won't tolerate it. Our priority is to aid the police in catching this Bat-man right away before he strikes again and inspires more violence. This city can't afford any violence in the streets!"

Harvey wanted to make a remark about Gotham already being violent due to her unwillingness to take risks but decided against it. Better to hold his tongue. They weren't going to win that argument. Winters didn't have the stones to take the risk. She was a typical politician trying to keep her job.

Rachel looked like she was going to say something else but Harvey quickly grabbed her hand and gave a look that said "Don't even think about it."

"Get out of my office and get to work," DA Winters ordered after realizing that the two ADAs had not left yet. Reluctantly the two quietly exited the office.

"I can't believe this!" Rachel yelled, her face showing outright anger at Winters' own refusal to pursue justice. "She's such a coward!"

"You can't fully blame her. Look what happened to her predecessor. Went after one of Thorne's unions and next thing you know, he was found dead on the sidewalk with a playing card on him."

"She disgraces his name! And I can't believe you're giving up already!"

Harvey sighed, "I'm not. It's just we didn't have that strong of a case anyways…"

"You were all excited five minutes ago!"

"Yeah, but I knew we had a slim chance of a conviction, the evidence was pretty circumstantial. I was just hoping we could keep him off the streets for a while and that she would actually put up a fight against him posting bail."

Rachel sighed in frustration. Harvey could see she was on the verge of tears.

"You okay?" Harvey asked.

"I miss McCoy. He wouldn't stand for this crap!" Rachel cried.

"Hey," Harvey said and grasped her hand. "We'll find a way. Trust me. Justice will be served and Napier and Thorne will pay for what they did to him."

Rachel calmed down. She always admired Harvey for his strong sense of justice. He was a good man.

"Besides, we're not out of the game yet."

"What do you mean?"

"We got twenty men ready to indict on homicide and drug trafficking charges. There is a pretty good chance one of them will roll on Napier…"

"But Winters said to look into this 'Bat-man' thing…"

"And we will. That will be the reason why we question them. While we're at it, we can slip in a few questions about Napier."

Rachel sighed, "Twenty people, it's going to be a long week."

Harvey smiled and led her down the hall.

"Between you and me, I would have loved to see this 'Bat-man' attack Napier," Rachel said. "I would have paid money to see that scum bag be beaten to a pulp like he deserves."

Harvey laughed. "Still it is pretty impressive this 'Bat-man' took out twenty men by himself. Must have gotten lucky."

"No one's that lucky," Rachel countered.

"Speaking of luck, I read in the paper your old friend, the billionaire Bruce Wayne, had a birthday bash last night. According to rumors he got so drunk he had to leave the party early last."

"Ugh, don't even get me started on him. I haven't talked to him in six months," Rachel said. Her father had been the gardener to the Wayne estate when Bruce Wayne was a child.

Rachel used to play with him when he was little but they had grown apart. Especially when Bruce pulled that immature stunt and ran away from home when he was nineteen to "study abroad" or whatever he was doing.

She always thought he was a sweet guy, just misunderstood due to that tragedy that happened to his parents. But now she knew he was nothing more than a self-absorbed buffoon. A disgrace to his father's name. A spoiled brat who refused to face his problems.

"Oh come on. You guys were friends growing up," Harvey prodded. He had always wanted to know more about Bruce Wayne.

"Why are you curious about him? Jealous?" she asked sharply.

"No," Harvey responded quickly.

Rachel smirked to herself. Harvey should have known better.

"I don't know. Bruce was a good guy but he has issues. I feel like his behavior is his way of coping with what happened to his parents."

"He should try doing something productive and more responsible, like helping the law. Didn't he graduate college at 18? I always thought he was a smart guy."

"He's still has the maturity of a five year old and besides, he would never get into law, he hates lawyers," Rachel responded.

"I do too," Harvey joked as they exited the courthouse.

"So," Harvey brought up as he tried to get a cab. "What do you want to do for dinner tonight?"

Rachel paused. "I'm in the mood for some Italian. I wouldn't mind going to Vinny's."

"Perfect. I'll pick you up at seven?"

"It's a date."

Pretty soon, the two were going over their plans for how to interrogate the suspects and Bruce Wayne was forgotten.

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Alfred Pennyworth tiptoed up the hallway and opened the door to the Master Bedroom quietly. Upon his initial examination, he could tell the bed hadn't been slept in at all last night. Contrary to what the media was saying, Bruce didn't leave from his party early to go to bed. In fact he rarely slept anymore.

Knowing where his master probably was, he made his way down the stairs and headed toward the old innocuous grandfather clock.

Switching the hands on the clock, it slid open to reveal a hidden doorway that led to a pit of blackness.

He made his way down a staircase deeper into a damp cave. He could hear water dripping from somewhere as well as his master's grunts.

Sure enough, Bruce Wayne was practicing Judo against a bunch of dummies.

Alfred stopped to watch his ward exercise. Bruce was actually built pretty muscular due to his years of extensive training which he kept hidden under his Armani suits. His face was covered with sweat and his icy blue eyes showed determination.

"You know most butlers have a hard time getting their masters out of their beds. As for myself, I have trouble getting you to even consider going to yours," Alfred replied sarcastically.

Bruce stopped his exercise.

"Hello Alfred."

"I take it your nighttime hobby went well last night?" Alfred said, pointing to the bruises that were all over Bruce's body.

"I felt it Alfred. I had it! They feared me! I did it! I showed them that there was someone who was going to fight against them!"

"Unfortunately 'Batman' didn't make the morning edition. Bruce Wayne did however," Alfred replied handing Bruce the Gotham Gazette.

Bruce took one look at the paper and tossed it with disgust.

"They're trying to bury it," Bruce muttered. "Doesn't matter. It's only a matter of time before it gets leaked out."

"There is still time for you to take up other hobbies. I heard squash is a really exciting sport. Perhaps even rugby?"

"I'm not doing this for me Alfred. It's for Gotham. It's for my parents."

"Are you sure?" Alfred asked.

Bruce immediately stopped his exercise and shot a glare at Alfred.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Alfred was not fazed by Bruce's sudden rise in temper.

"I just want to make sure you aren't just doing this for the wrong reasons…"

"How could there be any wrong reason for what I'm doing?" Bruce snapped back. "I'm taking a stand against crime!"

Alfred gently walked up to Bruce and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Bruce I have lived a long life and I know what vengeance can do to a man. Don't let it destroy you…"

Bruce angrily brushed away Alfred's hand.

"I know there's a line and I will never cross it. It's what will separate me from them."

"I hope you never cross it Master Bruce. Sometimes the temptation to cross that line may be too great though which is why I worry about you."

Bruce turned away angrily.

Alfred sighed.

"Please do get some rest Master Wayne. You will need it if you want to continue these nighttime activities."

Alfred turned, and left the cave. Bruce turned around and watched his butler ascend the staircase.

"Besides Alfred," he whispered to himself. "Someone already taught me there is a line I can't cross."

Bruce then resumed his workout routine.

00000

_Paris-Two years earlier_

"Bruce wake up!" the old French man yelled.

"The sun's not even out," Bruce complained.

Bruce received a whack on the head from Ducard's cane.

"Crime never sleeps Bruce! And neither do we!"

Sighing Bruce got out of bed.

"Eat a good breakfast, we are going to be out in the city all day and not be back until dark.

Bruce sighed. It took him months to track Ducard, another month to convince him to train him. Now he was learning from probably the most brilliant detective in the world. Soon, he would have his revenge. Those in Gotham would pay for what they took from everyone. They would all pay.


End file.
